Poll: Crist endorsement has little impact

9/21/12 8:48 AM EDT

In a poll for the Tampa Bay Times, Miami Herald and Bay News 9, the survey firm Mason-Dixon finds little evidence that Charlie Crist's endorsement boosted President Obama in Florida -- and some reason to question whether Crist would really be the Democrats' strongest candidate for governor:

Only 8 percent of voters say they are more likely to vote for Obama because Crist endorsed him, and they already supported Obama. Another 13 percent say they are less likely to vote for the president because of Crist's action, and the remaining 79 percent say it doesn't matter.

In a hypothetical match-up for governor in 2014, [former Florida CFO Alex] Sink would beat Scott, 47 percent to 39 percent, with the rest undecided. Crist has a two-point edge over Scott in a similar match-up, 44 percent to 42 percent, but that's within the poll's margin of error. ...

Sink is more popular than Crist, with a better than 2-to-1 favorability rating, but only 81 percent of voters recognized her name. When Sink narrowly lost to Scott in 2010, 98 percent of voters recognized her name.

Of course, in a state as competitive as Florida, Crist's endorsement would be a help to Obama even if it only moved a couple thousand votes. Democrats believe that Crist's favorability among senior citizens and independents is an asset to the president, and as Maggie and I wrote earlier this month, Florida Dem leaders are less concerned about Crist's gubernatorial prospects than about what he can do for Obama now.